Life’s a lonely song, with nobody by your side to sing along. Or so that’s what Jenzen would hum to himself each morning, forever fated to be the friendless outcast. The newly-turned fourteen-year-old slinked out of bed and began to move through the motions of yet another day. Try as they might, his parents had little advice to cheer him up. His teachers similarly failed in encouraging the boy, parroting the usual lines.

“You’ll find yours any day now!”

“It’s just a matter of time until they show up!”

“Just hang in there, it’s bound to happen!”

But Jenzen knew better. He would not simply stumble across his best friend. They would not show up out of the blue, as if guided to him by magic. And it was most certainly not ‘bound to happen.’ He however would hang in there. They were right about that part if nothing else. He sat in the dead centre of the mathematics class, surrounded by people either partnered with or separated from their best friends. All around him they would laugh and make jokes amongst each other while he sat quietly, the first kid in recent memory to not have a best friend. And if he wasn’t a best friend to anyone, why would they want to befriend him? Something was surely wrong with him, they must have thought. And Jenzen believed them. After class, Jenzen walled to his locker as he always did, avoiding as many students as possible.

The janitor pulled him to the side of the hallway. Her name tag read Kharesh.’

“Kid, this is your first year here, hm?”

“Yeah, I started secondary school a couple of weeks ago.” He tried to move away but she held him tight by the forearm. “What do you want?”

“Your face, you have no soul ink, no marking.” She said, examining him with an intense stare. She spoke with a thick Indian accent, forcing Jenzen to focus to better hear through it.

“No, I wasn’t born with any. Everybody else was though, so now I’m just the weird freak. Can I go now?” He looked away and to the ground, his face souring from the explanation.

“I see. Jenzen, meet me by the gates, tomorrow after class.” She let the boy go, resuming her scrubbing of the wall. He didn’t recall giving his name, but paid it no mind. Surely this janitor had heard the name of the famous friendless freak by now. He continued his lonesome walk home through the rain, his umbrella forgotten during the morning slump. He couldn’t remember the last day without rain. Turning the corner to his street, a girl shouted his name over the increasingly intense downpour. He recognized her from gym class, although they had never spoken.

“Jenzen! Wait!” She shouted, sprinting up to him with an umbrella in hand. She held it above him, allowing the rain to soak through her uniform and paint her red hair black. “I… want to… talk to you.” She said between quickened breaths.

“Why? You’ve all said enough to me, I don’t need any more reasons to hate you, or myself.” He spat out the words without thinking. But it was true, he heard all the different ways a kid could call him weird, a freak, or a loser. Two had even said he was worthless, and another questioned why he was alive at all. Everyone was the same, and he was all too sick of it.

“No, I just wanted to invite you to—“

“To what, a party so you can all chant those insults at me? I don’t need you or your fake charity. Please just leave me alone.” He swatted her umbrella to the ground, filling the underside with water, and sprinted down the street. He ignored his mother’s greeting and dashed up the stairs to his room, locking the door behind him. Not even lemon fish and potato boats could coax him out tonight. He spent his time locked away going over all the insults and side-eyes he ever received, both over the last two weeks and the several years of elementary school. He was right in telling her off, he knew. Nobody had ever genuinely tried to talk to him besides the adults, and even they did it only because they felt like they had to. She was just like everybody else. All of them rude, uncaring of his feelings, and malicious in their intent. And now that he had blown up on one of them, they would surely use it as ammo, more fuel for the pyre.

And use it they did. Sneers filled the faces of every student as he walked by the next morning, not a single one attempting to quiet their whispers.

“I hear he assaulted Charlotte, not that I’m surprised.”

“…in a downpour, who breaks someone’s umbrella like that?”

“Who cares why she was talking to him, he just up and hit her, probably across the face.”

Jenzen kept his head down and sped up his pace, burying his head in his locker. He held close to his chest as he tried to slow his breaths, but his breathing and heartbeat continued to intensify. Why did he care so much? It was just more rumours and lies, so why did he care? If this was all happening on week two, then what about week six? Year two? Year four? He slammed the locker shut and looked around, everyone was staring at him. Sweat dripped from his forehead and flowed from his neck and arms.

“Hey, what—“ A voice started as his vision darkened under a thick fog of purple and black. His hearing began to ring as the voices around him all muddled together. “Hey… alright?… -to me! Please… -ay, try to… voice!” The sound was vaguely familiar but impossible to find in the storm of noise. He took a sharp, pained breath as he felt something against his cheek, a gentle touch of someone’s hand. “Can you… hand? Or… my voice?” His fog gave way just enough for him to make out part of what was in front of him. “There you… can you focus on my face? What abo… voice?” He could try. Through the blur, he could make out blue, maybe grey-blue eyes. Red hair, long and wavy. A nurse’s bandaid covered just above the corner of the right eye. And a voice he had only heard once before. Charlotte. Slowly, his vision returned bit by bit along with his hearing. Charlotte carefully wrapped her arms around Jenzen and hugged him close, bringing his heartbeat and breath down as he focused on the physical contact.

“I…” He began before trailing off. He propped himself off of the floor with his forearms, looking at the girl as she sat in front of him.

“Are you okay? I think you were having an anxiety attack.” She held his hand tight in hers.

“Anxiety…”

“I didn’t tell them, I swear! I get why you were so harsh yesterday, even if it made me really upset. But I didn’t tell anybody else… Besides Cheyanne.” Her eyes lost their glow as she lowered her head slightly.

“Your best friend?” His heart sank, ready to blame her in full for causing such an unpleasant experience.

“Not anymore.” She tapped the bandage above the corner of her eye. “I told her to never talk to me again. I don’t care if she’s bonded to me, I won’t be friends with such a… such a bitch. Not after she went against her promise to not tell anybody about yesterday.” She squeezed his hand, raising her gaze to keep level with his.

“So you did tell someone, I—“

“I’m so sorry, I thought I could trust her.” A line of blood trickled down her cheek from underneath the bandage, landing on the floor. She took a tissue and wiped the line away. “I… I cut off the mark.” She massaged the area around the bandage, careful not to put pressure on the spot itself.

“That was stupid, it’ll just grow back with the skin.”

“I know, I just wanted to prove a point, and I was angry. But for now, I have no mark and no friends. Just like you.” Her lips curled upward into a slight smile.

“You’re nothing like me.” He pulled his hand away from hers. “But you saved my life, or at least it felt like it, so…” He extended his hand to her. Charlotte’s smile widened, jumping to her feet and pulling him up by the hand. “If you’d like to…” He thought for a moment before continuing. “I’m meeting with the janitor after school, by the gates. I could—“

“I’ll be there.” The bell rang, forcing the two to split up and continue the day. The ridiculing looks and open mockery continued throughout, but he paid none of it any mind. A friend, maybe. He actually had a friend. What does someone even do with a friend? What if he fails her, or doesn’t live up to her expectations? Suddenly he was overtaken with a new kind of fear. The bell rang, again and again and again, until finally, school was over. He left his last class of the day and bumped into Charlotte who was standing right outside of the door.

“All ready for whatever we’re doing?” She asked. The two moved to the gates out front, the rain still pouring. This time, they both had umbrellas. Standing by the gates in all black and without any protection from the rain was a tall woman, her skin a dark tan and her hair a black sheen. Whether it was black from the rain or not was anybody’s guess. She was almost certainly Kharesh, the boy thought.

“Janitor lady, Kharesh?” Jenzen asked, stopping a few feet away from her.

“Yes. I see you are no longer alone. What purpose do you have with the boy?” She kept her eyes on the sky.

“I’m his friend, we met officially for the first time yesterday.”

“And your bandage?” She shot her head down and eyed the girl.

“I tried to remove my birthmark, after I denounced my ex-best friend.” The hint of shame was prominent in her voice as she spoke, wavering and lowering with each passing word.

“Shouldn’t you be in uniform, cleaning the school?” Jenzen said, cutting in.

“I see. No, I only spend one day out of the week here, scouting for those like us.” She moved her eyes to him. They were red, deep and glossy. “Now, Jenzen. I would like to offer you an opportunity. Come with me, and never see this town again for as long as you like.” She kept her eyes on his as if to read his thoughts. Never again? What about his parents? Why would he go with a total stranger? What kind of offer even is this? None of it made sense.

“Why would I—“

“Unwanted and unloved by all but your parents who will never come to understand your pain or struggles. This town is a slow poison that will leave you gasping for breath, devoid of all life or passion. Come with me and take up a life as a Nomad. A free citizen.” She allowed a smile to shine through, however slight.

“A nomad?” Charlotte asked, holding her hand out in front of Jenzen. “Like the travelling native tribes we learned about in history class?”

“No, that is simply the term we use as a people, we are much unlike the nomadic tribes of today. However, we do travel.” Kharesh said.

“But… what about her?” Jenzen asked, shifting his gaze to Charlotte.

“She is welcome, if she truly has denounced her mark. We can help remove it permanently if you so wish. Although some will refuse to treat you as one of our own in the beginning.”

“That’s a lot to think about, does he need to answer right now?” Charlotte asked. Jenzen took a step forward.

“I’ll go. I want to join you, I need to. Please come with me, Charlotte.” He grabbed her by the hand and squeezed twice.

“I…” Charlotte started.

“You may say goodbye to your families and meet me here tomorrow at dawn. If you do not show up, I will leave without you, and the offer will not be available for another five years.” She nodded once and walked between the two kids, leaving the way they came.

“Will you come with me? I’ll understand if you don’t since we just met, but… Charlotte they’re all going to hate you too. The next four years will be hell, and you don’t deserve it. Less than I did, at least.”

“Don’t say that. And I want to but…” She bit her lip and took a deep breath. The rain slowed to a drizzle. “Only if I can stay with you tonight. I can’t go back to my parent's house, they’ll know something’s up.” Her eyes glistened in pleading. Or maybe from the rain, he couldn’t tell.

“But don’t you want to say goodbye?” Jenzen asked.

“I can’t. Please?” She squeezed his hand again.

“Alright, let’s go home then. And tomorrow, we start new lives as Nomads. Whatever that means. It can’t be any worse than here, right?” He smiled the biggest, most genuine smile of his life. For the first time, he was looking forward to a new day. Charlotte held his hand tight in hers, not letting go the entire walk to Jenzen’s house. Her grip was so tight he could feel a heartbeat through her hand, was she scared? Was it right to ask her to leave her family behind? What if he turns out to be an even worse friend than her last one? None of his questions mattered, he had to go through with it no matter what. They arrived at his house and sat down for dinner. His parents were ecstatic that their son finally made a friend.

“We always knew you would, buddy!” His father said.

“This must be the happiest day of your life!” His mom continued.

“So what’s your name? You look like a Patty.” His dad asked. The conversation went on for hours, leading into and straight through dinner. Extra fish from the night before and a bowl of cauliflower cheese soup. Both his and Charlotte’s favourites.

“I’m leaving town tomorrow, mom, dad. I don’t know when I’ll be back but I will write, I just wanted you to know.”

“What? But you just made a friend! Why do you want to leave so suddenly?” His mom said. The concern in her eyes was overwhelming.

“This is so sudden, and all by yourself?” His dad added. But it wasn’t sudden, and he wasn’t alone. In truth, Jenzen had planned to run away for months, the only thing stopping him being the fear of ending up alone and away from his parents. He put a lot of thought into whether he should hurt the ones who ruined his life on a daily basis, but knew he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to go through with it. He detailed every reason he had for leaving, why he wanted to and where he was going. He left out the who, only mentioning that he and charlotte would be leaving together.

“I can’t let you—“ His mom tried to shout.

“If this is what you need to do, then please just keep in contact. I don’t want to go two weeks without reading a letter from you, okay?” His dad said. Before Jenzen could stop it, a tear fell from his eyes. “We’re sorry, Jenzen, we’re sorry we couldn’t help you feel better about your situation.”

They spent the evening together, all four of them, talking about everything they could think of, of which there was plenty. As it turned out, Charlotte got along well with his parents, fitting in as if she had always been there. The four ended the night well after dusk had fallen with plenty more tears and goodbyes. Jenzen put together a makeshift bed on the floor and insisted Charlotte take his bed, with no amount of arguing able to change his mind. After far too long, sleep finally took him.

Even at five in the morning, Jenzen’s parents were wide awake with breakfast made for the kids, ready to send them off. Leaving them is almost as hard as staying, he thought. They shared a tear-filled goodbye before his parents sent the two on their way with food and coin aplenty. Today was the first clear skies they’ve had in weeks, Charlotte pointed out.

As she said, Kharesh stood by the gates wearing a grey robe with her face hidden by a hood.

“You came, good. Let us leave now. Shiva bless us, for our journey will be long and troubled.” She prayed to herself before looking at the kids. “Are there any final questions before we leave?”

“What is a nomad?” Charlotte said, not hesitating for a second.

“We are a people denied our birthright, with no soulmate or soul companion to our names. We defy a law they have no control over, and so they will us out of existence. Our Nomads trace back hundreds of years, but those in power hide this knowledge from the public. To ostracize and separate us. To better eliminate us. For now, that is all you need to know. Come, the road awaits.” Satisfied with her answer, Charlotte took Jenzen by the arm and followed behind Kharesh. A people denied their birthright, Jenzen recited to himself, and he thought his whole life that he was destined to be alone. No matter how long and arduous the road, he had Charlotte by his side, and eventually, an entire family of those just like him. A life he thought forever out of reach.

Soon, Jenzen would come to understand why he had not once heard of the Nomads. Soon he would know exactly why they travelled the world, never stopping for more than a week. He would not like the answers given, nor the truth he would discover behind those answers.